The March 6 meeting of the Hillcrest Leadership Council focused on one main issue: how can the community deal with the proposed construction of 120 units of “workforce” and “affordable” housing rentals at 1101 Hillcrest Drive. The developer also wants to put some office space on the property, as well as 136 parking spaces. The meeting was held at Rec Room II, 1151 S. Hillcrest Court.
District 6 Commissioner Idelma Quintana attended. Ray Chait, the president of Building 16, across the street from the proposed project, led the meeting, which occurred a night after developers addressed about 40 concerned citizens via a Zoom meeting. Inside Hillcrest is also publishing an article on the Zoom meeting in this issue.
Early on at the HLC meeting, Chait distributed copies of a 2016 “Declaration of Restrictive Covenants” that is recorded with Broward County. He cited item 15, which states that the permissible amount of housing in the Hillcrest PUD (Planned Unit Development) can only be changed if “at least 80% of the residential unit owners located within the Hillcrest PUD agree to the change.
But the 1101 Hillcrest Drive developers and the City of Hollywood are working independently of this Declaration of Restrictive Covenants to determine whether city leaders will approve a change to the Hillcrest PUD this spring.
Commissioner Quintana was given a copy of the Covenants at the meeting. She said she will study it and learn what role it plays in connection with the ongoing proceedings at City Hall. The city Technical Advisory Committee has already held several meetings on the bid to place affordable housing rental units on Hillcrest property. It is not clear if the TAC officials knew about the Declaration of Restrictive Covenants.
However, Chait told the HLC audience that he spoke with the attorney for Building 16. According to Chait, the attorney advised him the Covenants are binding, and give people who live within the Hillcrest PUD the right to say yes or no to the proposed development. The Hillcrest PUD is comprised of units in Hillcrest and Parkview at Hillcrest.
Hillcrest leaders also learned that the developers are speaking with city leaders because the maximum number of housing units has been reached in the Hillcrest PUD. This means either people living in the Hillcrest PUD, or the City of Hollywood, depending on how the law is interpreted, has the power to expand the number of permissible housing units here. And because the law is complex, Chait and Cindy Abraham, the secretary of the Hillcrest Leadership Council, suggested building leaders need to speak with the people who live in their buildings
The goal is for the 24 buildings to pool financial resources to hire an attorney who will represent Hillcrest interests with the developer and the City of Hollywood. Abraham floated the idea that we could get a strong legal advocate if we came up with $25,000. This could happen if each building pitched in $10 per unit.
Abraham was particularly unhappy with the fact the first proposed development – the 620 units next to Hillcrest 25 and now these 120 units behind Hillcrest 20 – are both using the argument that these “affordable rental units” are geared toward first responders, medical personnel, police officers and firefighters. As a realtor, Abraham believes that offering the sale of affordable residences would better help our hometown heroes, instead of taking their hard earned money in the form of rent payments which gives them no equity or future security.
But apparently, that helps the developers get “tax exemptions” which benefits them also. The next step is for the City to approve the Site Plan. And more unsettling is the fact that The Housing Trust Group is asking the City of Hollywood to change the Flex Unit Allocation here. In a follow up email interview, Commissioner Quintana, our representative at City Hall, explained the Flex Unit Allocation this way:
“Here is what the City of Hollywood Municipal Code Publication had to say…
Ҥ 3.20. Rules of Flexibility and Reserve Units.
The Broward County Land Use Plan contains policies comprised of “Rules of Flexibility.” These rules address density for residential areas and uses, and intensity for non-residential areas and uses. The rules are designed to allow for local governments to make relatively minor changes to their adopted land use plans without a corresponding county action on the County Land Use Plan, which would otherwise be required to maintain consistency between the city and county plans.”
Finally, developers want the city to amend the amount of land that can be filled with substances such as concrete. City law holds that developers can use 65% of the land as an area that can’t absorb water. But the developer wants that number increased to 70%.
At the Zoom meeting, developer representatives said we will be protected from flooding caused due to the construction because government insists on increasingly strict water treatment systems being placed on the property. The request to increase the area that can’t absorb water from 65% to 70% happens at a time when Hollywood is dealing with increasingly heavy rainstorms and a corresponding increase in flooding.
Attendees of the March 6 meeting brought up issues that were also discussed the night before at the Zoom meeting with developer representatives. One Hillcrest resident offered a pithy observation when he asked why the developer would spend money to try to get the project approved unless they suspected their request would be granted.
Commissioner Quintana, also in her email, provided the name, title and email of a high-ranking city official who can help us get information about how the City Of Hollywood’s development policies and procedures work. Quintana said we can contact Andria Wingett, who is the Director of Development Services. Her email is awingett@hollywoodfl.org. Wingett, in turn, will ask people in her department to give us the information we request.
HLC meeting attendees also heard from Hillcrest HPD Neighborhood Team Leader, Officer Josh Grotenhuis. He said HPD officers stationed in the parking lot of a Hillcrest building arrested some youngsters in connection with trying to break into cars. Grotenhuis reminded Hillcresters that crooks are targeting Hondas, and, to some extent Toyotas right now. He encouraged residents to buy a “Club” or club-like device to lock the steering wheel of the car. The officer believes people who steal cars want to act quickly and will probably move on to another car that doesn’t have a locking mechanism on the steering wheel.
He also reminded residents about the upsurge in fraud, urging us to be careful about emails and phone calls, in particular, that seem suspicious or request personal data such as social security numbers or bank account information. Police and Firefighters NEVER solicit money over the phone, which is a common con. Nor do veteran agencies. The bottom line is to NEVER give money or personal information to ANYONE over the phone. Tell them to send you their request via the US mail. This will give you time to think about whatever issue they bring up, or you can even look up the company/bank/agency phone number and call them back yourself.
As for emails, NEVER click on anything that comes from a company, bank, charity or government agency.
